HAIRSPRAY, Broadway’s Tony Award®-winning musical comedy phenomenon, will play at Bass Concert Hall June 13th-18th, 2023 as part of Texas Performing Arts’ Broadway in Austin 2022-2023 season. Learn more about the new touring production at HairsprayTour.com.  

HAIRSPRAY is the story of 16-year-old Tracy Turnblad in 1960s Baltimore as she sets out to dance her way onto TV’s most popular show. Can a girl with big dreams (and even bigger hair) change the world? Featuring the beloved score of hit songs including “Welcome to the ’60s,” “Good Morning Baltimore,” and “You Can’t Stop the Beat,” HAIRSPRAY is “fresh, winning, and deliriously tuneful!” (The New York Times).  

This new touring production reunites Broadway’s award-winning creative team, led by Director Jack O’Brien and Choreographer Jerry Mitchell, to bring HAIRSPRAY to a new generation of theater audiences. HAIRSPRAY is based on the New Line Cinema film written and directed by John Waters, who served as a creative consultant on the musical comedy. It features a book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan. HAIRSPRAY features an original score by Academy Award-nominated Marc Shaiman and lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. The tour is produced by NETworks Presentations. 

Additional creative team for HAIRSPRAY includes Tour Director Matt Lenz, Tour Choreographer Robbie Roby, Set Designer David Rockwell, Lighting Designer Kenneth Posner, Tour Lighting Designer Paul Miller, Costume Designer William Ivey Long, Hair and Wig Designer Paul Huntley, Richard Mawbey and Bernie Ardia, Sound Designer Shannon Slaton, Music Supervisor Keith Thompson and Casting by Stewart/Whitley. 

HAIRSPRAY premiered at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theater in June 2002. The show was a smash hit when it transferred to Broadway, winning eight 2003 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and became the longest-running musical to play the Neil Simon Theater, running 2,642 performances from July 18, 2002, until January 4, 2009. It is the 22nd longest running show in Broadway history. 

Texas Performing Arts is the professional arts presenting and producing program of The University of Texas at Austin. One of the largest and most active university-based performing arts centers in the U.S., Texas Performing Arts is an anchor institution in Austin’s arts, cultural, and entertainment landscape. Texas Performing Arts operates venues on the UT campus including Austin’s largest theatre, the newly renovated Bass Concert Hall. Its public programs include Broadway in Austin; the Texas Welcomes series of national touring artists; and a curated season of international dance, theatre, music and more. Texas Performing Arts is an integral unit of UT’s College of Fine Arts and engages thousands of students across the university every year. In calendar year 2019 Bass Concert Hall had the highest number of tickets sold of any theatre in Austin, was #2 in the State of Texas, and #22 in the world, according to industry publication Pollstar. Following a national search, Tony Award-winning producer Bob Bursey was appointed Executive and Artistic Director in January of 2020.   

Broadway Across America (BAA) is part of the John Gore Organization family of companies, which includes Broadway.com, The Broadway Channel, BroadwayBox.com, Group Sales Box Office and Broadway Brands.  Led by 18-time Tony-winning theater producer John Gore (Owner & CEO), BAA is the foremost presenter of first-class touring productions in North America, operating in 48 markets with over 400,000 subscribers. Presentations include Disney’s The Lion King, Wicked, The Book of Mormon and Hamilton. Current and past productions include Ain’t Too Proud, Beautiful, Cats, Chicago, Dear Evan Hansen, Mean Girls, Moulin Rouge! and To Kill A Mockingbird.